Escape Today is closing its doors on Halloween, exactly three years after opening in Owensboro, in order to prepare for their move downtown.
The entertainment destination has expanded from two escape rooms to 18 and has added ax throwing, rage rooms and a beercade with 40 arcade machines on free play mode.
The move will give them five times more space than their current building.
They will be moving into the old Barnaby’s Nightclub and Hutch’s Family Billiards located at, 824 and 800 W. 2nd St.
Owner David Haynes said they will be opening the new location in stages.
Ax throwing will be ready on Oct. 19, but the arcade will be moving in pieces, with some of the games staying until the very end.
Haynes said the team is hoping to have the Rage Room completed by early November and open for business while the escape rooms will probably release halfway through November.
“The plan is to really only have the escape rooms unavailable for about two weeks,” he said. “Our new themes will be Stranger Things, Harry Potter Part II, and Kidnapped Part III.”
Haynes said the brewery date will be announced later because they are still working through licensing and red tape, but he hopes to be brewing by Jan. 1, 2020 and open to the public by Feb. 1, 2020.
“This move is absolutely the hardest thing we’ve ever undertaken,” he said. “We’ve checked out over 100 spaces in town that just wouldn’t quite work for various reasons and it’s been grueling and expensive.”
Haynes said he and his team have been fortunate to have some great mentors in town that wouldn’t let them give up or get down after years of trying to find a new location.
“We also have a great team of employees and owners that really make this all worthwhile,” Haynes said. “We cannot thank the community enough for its support and we’ll keep providing Owensboro with top-notch experiences as long as we’re able. We absolutely cannot wait for the future.”
